


Cravings

by EternalRedWolfe



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-18 04:45:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15477963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternalRedWolfe/pseuds/EternalRedWolfe
Summary: Things are changing quickly in the lives of Cordelia Chase and Rupert Giles.  All he can do is make the transition smooth for them both.





	Cravings

It had happened literally overnight. It had woken her at 3.45 am. She wanted to eat something, she didn't know what, but she needed something. She glanced over at Giles sleeping next to her, removed the light sheet from over her, sat up in bed and quietly tip-toed out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen. She rummaged through the fridge and settled on a yoghurt. Then some crackers that Giles had bought for her, her slice of birthday cake that she had been saving for herself, some peanut butter, Giles slice of her birthday that he had been keeping for himself with the rest of the jar of peanut butter. When Giles woke up, she was sitting on the floor behind the couch looking at her hands. 

"What's wrong?" He wiped the sleep from his eyes and crouched down beside her. She had been so despondent for the last few hours but having him next to her, his cologne sticking comfortably to his clothes. She shrugged and wiped her nose, pressed her face into his shirt and felt his arm around her. "Second thoughts?"

"No." She wasn't sure he could hear her but she didn't want to move.

"What is it? Tell me."

"It's so stupid." She pulled away from his chest but held his free hand in hers. "I don't know what I want. I'm not even hungry but I still want ... Something."

"What?"

"I don't know. I ate every fruit in the bowl, and sweet stuff and ..." She pushed herself up and away from him. "Forget it. I'm going to have a shower."

~~~  
He stared at the screen, wishing he'd asked Willow for more help with the research. But he couldn't rely on her for everything. More importantly he didn't want to. He didn't want her to see how scared he was, didn't want her to let slip to Cordelia about how scared he was. He tried as much as he could, and so far successfully, to hide the nightmares from her, nightmares which ranged from utterly comical to downright terrifying. 

She was the one going through this, she had more worries than he did. They might be a team in this but there was still a part of him that saw that he was still an observer. And going by this morning, she felt the same thing. There was nothing he could do to really help her through this, only to be there, to support her in whatever decision and offer his opinion when asked. He wanted to make the next few months as easy and blissful for her as he could. So he tried to make sense of the words on the screen in front of him, and panicked as he accidentally clicked on...something and the page he was focusing on disappeared to something else. 

_It's like a bloody scavenger hunt._

~~

When Cordelia came back out after a very long, hot shower, Giles was gone. He'd left a note, telling her he had errands to run, that he loved her and he would be home later. 

She made herself a camomile tea, grabbed a book from the shelf and went back up to their bedroom and curled up in bed. She read the first page multiple times in an hour, not able to get past the flowery, winding, British writing. Couldn't those people just get to the point!? She ended up falling asleep for a few hours. Checking the clock when she woke up, she sat up. "Giles." There was no reply. Panic started to rise slowly from her stomach. The sun was starting to set and, though she knew that Giles was more than capable of dealing with the monsters of the night, she was worried. When he got home she was going to buy him a damn cell phone and glue it to him. 

She went downstairs. "Giles!" She stood in the middle of the room before deciding. She grabbed her jacket, slipped on her shoes and opened the door. She made it to the fountain. She wanted to move another step, but she couldn't. She tried - but every time she placed her foot on the ground she pulled it back again. She turned and went back into the apartment. Buffy must have seen him today? She'd call Buffy and find out what she was up to. The phone rang three times before it was answered. _"Hello."_

"Willow. Is Buffy there?"

_"Hey to you too, Cordy."_

"Willow. Buffy."

_"She's not here what's wrong?"_

"Was Giles with her?"

_"No. She left with Riley. Giles left here ages ago. Cordy, what's going on?"_

"He left here this morning and I haven't seen him since and it's getting dark."

_"He's not new to this. I'm sure he's fine, Cordy --"_

Cordelia stopped paying attention when she heard a key in the door. "Oh. Yeah. He's fine." Giles walked in to the apartment smiling. "But he won't be when I ram this phone down his throat!" She clicked the phone off. "Where the hell were you!? Why didn't you call me? Were you armed?" She looked at his laden arms. "What are those?"

"Groceries." He closed the front door with his foot. He frowned, fear furrowing in his forehead, either from the phone still grasped in her hand or the worry that exuded from her, she didn't know. He set the bags down on the counter and sat her down on a stool. "What is happening to you?"

"I'm scared." She rubbed her hand along her forehead. "Everything is changing and I can control none of it! If you're in trouble, I can't do anything. The sun had barely started going down and I couldn't make it past the fountain. My body feels like it's turning against me and I don't know what to do. I can't talk to my mom about this because it was probably just an inconvenience." She brought her eyes up to his. "What if I can't project her?" 

He kissed her hand. "You're so certain?"

"It's me. Of course I am." She smiled, something that seemed impossible a few minutes ago.

"We're still getting used to this. Neither of us know what to expect, what to do."

"You don't seem scared."

"I'm terrified." He opened up the briefcase bag he carried with him. "Which is why I've been reading." He pulled out a variety of books and papers. 

"Where did you get these?" She flipped through them, noting that he had marked various weeks of the baby's development with the dates that this would concur with their child. Her hands started shaking thinking about the little person growing inside of her.

"The library, Willow. I went to see her earlier and asked her to see if she could find regular cravings that women experience so..." He began emptying the grocery bags. "I got the usual... Normal cravings plus your favourites." Bananas, ice-cream, crackers, cheese, tins of fruit, fresh fruit, ingredients for her favourite dishes and cakes and soups. "Whatever you and the baby need, you'll get. If you want gallons of tea, or ice-cream. Gallons of tea in ice-cream. Burgers." Cordelia felt the bile rise up quickly to her throat. She pursed her lips and shook her head. "No burgers then. He grabbed the pre-packed food and tossed it in the bin on the other side of the counter. "I don't know how to help with the other stuff. The thought of you being hurt or in trouble before would stop my heart. But we'll figure it out together. I'm not going to be the partner who says you can't do anything, and you sure as hell won't let me but we'll both be limited. But we need to figure out your cravings now because there is a lot of ice-cream in these bags."

~~~

Cordelia sat on the couch as he pottered around the kitchen, making various dishes. They eventually narrowed it down to five creations: chocolate and cheese, green tea with copious amounts of lemon, fries and lots of vinegar, and an ice-cream sugar concoction that Giles whipped up. 

"This is my favourite."

"Uh, it's called Eton Mess."

"What's in it?"

"Strawberry ice-cream, and meringue bits." 

"Right, here's what you do."

He came back to her with her modifications: peanut butter, chocolate chips, and meringue chunks. She took a spoonful. "I think this is her favourite."

"What are you going to do when we've decorated for a girl and we have a boy?"

"Uhhh, not care." She smiled up at him. "Thank you. For all of this. Sorry it was kind of a waste of time." She put the bowl on the table on curled into his body.

He frowned. "How'd you figure?"

"Cause all you really needed was you."

"God, has anyone ever told you how cheesy you are?" She laughed gleefully as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.


End file.
